Nice benchtop jointer for a small shop
Written: Nov 16 '07 (Updated Nov 16 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Light weight
Variable Speed
Easily removed guard
Cons: Required additional setup and user supplied washers/shims
Fence angle adjustment is ugly.
The Bottom Line: Good tool for the price and compared to other in the same class. I would like to see Delta include shims/spacers and instructions on how to properly setup this tool!
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| goobaru's Full Review: Delta Shopmaster Bench Top Jointer JT160 |
I picked up the 6" Delta jointer last week. It's a nice lightweight unit (easy to move around and/or store). I was trying to choose between the 105lb cast iron craftsman unit and the 35lb Delta. In my shop I would have to move this tool around quite a bit so the lightweight of the delta plus several other features (variable speed and easy to remove guard) lead me to choose the Delta.
Out of the box it had a couple of setup issues that were easily overcome. I found the vertical fence bracket needed to be shimmed (with small washers) on one side to true it up parallel to the infeed/outfeed tables. Took me 10 minutes to do, not a big deal.
Also, the infeed table was slightly low on the inside (side closest to the fence). I noticed this because the fence was perfectly straight (i.e not warped) but when I squared it against the outfeed table it would not be square against the infeed table and vise versa. Checking the outfeed table against the blades, it was perfectly aligned. Not so for the infeed table. On the outer edge I set the infeed table height just so my straight edge would barely strike the top of the blade. When I did the same check on the inside (near the fence) it would strike a couple of thousands below the top edge of the blade. This told me the table was not on the same plane as the outfeed table. Since the Delta tables are held in with 4 bolts it was easy to remove and shim using some aluminum tape under the mounting points on one side of the table. After adding a couple of layers of aluminum tape, everything was in 100% alignment and was jointing perfectly square.
Should I have had to do this?? Probably not, but it took maybe an hour to assemble and set up the machine to make perfect joints. So I'm very happy with it. I don't see why delta doesn't include a small packet of washer spacers and an extra paragraph in the manual to show how to do this. I think that would take care of most of the negative reviews I've read about this tool.
I have a feeling that most of the negative reivews here some from people who expect tools to be 100% setup out of the box. The truth is, I have yet to buy a power tool (and I have many) that didn't require some play-time to get it working at its best.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
goobaru
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Reviews written: 1
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